Low alkalinity

[clowns]

I have 40 gal with clown pair and seabae anemone and very small bta, few chromis. Tank is 10 months old. My alk consistently tests at 6.7-7.0. All other parameters are good.
In last week I have added 10 mls 3 times of aquavitro 8.4. Alk is not raising????

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

So I am personally not an Aquavitro 8.4 user but I did a little digging into the instructions and FAQ and found this:

"How much will one dose of eight.four™ raise my alkalinity?

A: Each 5 mL of eight.four™ added to 80 L (20 US gallons) (standard dose) will raise alkalinity by 0.25meq/L (or 0.7 dKH)."

So 5ml:20gal will increase dKH by 0.7

So if you dosed 10ml into your 40gal you should have increased your dKH by 0.7 as you increase both the ml and gal proportionally.

What I would do to verify you're seeing an increase after dosing is:
test the aquarium, dose the 10ml (assuming you're aiming for a .7 increase), wait about 30 minutes and test again. The results should be ~.7dKh higher.

On another note, what dKH are you targeting? I suggest trying to maintain whatever your salt of choice mixes to.

For example, I use Red Sea Coral Pro which at 34ppt is supposed to have 11.5 dKH but regular Red Sea Salt (aka "blue bucket" ) at 35ppt has a dKH of 8.4 I think.

Edit:
You didn't note initially when you were testing, so if you tested once before you started the doses then once after it is possible that coralline algae or something else another process is consuming it. You don't mention any skeletal corals but maybe snails or something else along those lines.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have 40 gal with clown pair and seabae anemone and very small bta, few chromis. Tank is 10 months old. My alk consistently tests at 6.7-7.0. All other parameters are good.
In last week I have added 10 mls 3 times of aquavitro 8.4. Alk is not raising????

Add more.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Add more.

The GOAT sliding in with the simplest answer...

 

[clowns]

The GOAT sliding in with the simplest answer...

Lol, I have added 30 mls in 6 days... tiny raise from 6.
7 to 7.

 

[clowns]

So I am personally not an Aquavitro 8.4 user but I did a little digging into the instructions and FAQ and found this:

"How much will one dose of eight.four™ raise my alkalinity?

A: Each 5 mL of eight.four™ added to 80 L (20 US gallons) (standard dose) will raise alkalinity by 0.25meq/L (or 0.7 dKH)."

So 5ml:20gal will increase dKH by 0.7

So if you dosed 10ml into your 40gal you should have increased your dKH by 0.7 as you increase both the ml and gal proportionally.

What I would do to verify you're seeing an increase after dosing is:
test the aquarium, dose the 10ml (assuming you're aiming for a .7 increase), wait about 30 minutes and test again. The results should be ~.7dKh higher.

On another note, what dKH are you targeting? I suggest trying to maintain whatever your salt of choice mixes to.

For example, I use Red Sea Coral Pro which at 34ppt is supposed to have 11.5 dKH but regular Red Sea Salt (aka "blue bucket" ) at 35ppt has a dKH of 8.4 I think.

Edit:
You didn't note initially when you were testing, so if you tested once before you started the doses then once after it is possible that coralline algae or something else another process is consuming it. You don't mention any skeletal corals but maybe snails or something else along those lines.

Could my LARGE sebae be consuming that much. I also added dry live rock about 10 days ago, but can't get alk to go up much. Goal is 8.4

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Could my LARGE sebae be consuming that much. I also added dry live rock about 10 days ago, but can't get alk to go up much. Goal is 8.4

So Anemones have no skeletal structure so they consume no amount of alkalinity (at least that I think would be quantifiable as compared to stony corals or coralline algeaes).

If you're targeting 8.4 then let's shoot to just get there from 7 as a 1.4 shot in one day is the top end of what is generally considered safe in one day.

So following that formula of:
5ml:20gal=+.7dKH
Insert known and solve for dose amount:
Xml:40gal=+1.4dKH
We get:
20ml:40gal=+1.4dKH

So test before you dose to verify you're ~7dKH, dose the 20mls slowly into a high flow area, wait about 30minutes for it to fully distribute throughout the tank, then test again.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

dose Kalk?

 

[clowns]

So Anemones have no skeletal structure so they consume no amount of alkalinity (at least that I think would be quantifiable as compared to stony corals or coralline algeaes).

If you're targeting 8.4 then let's shoot to just get there from 7 as a 1.4 shot in one day is the top end of what is generally considered safe in one day.

So following that formula of:
5ml:20gal=+.7dKH
Insert known and solve for dose amount:
Xml:40gal=+1.4dKH
We get:
20ml:40gal=+1.4dKH

So test before you dose to verify you're ~7dKH, dose the 20mls slowly into a high flow area, wait about 30minutes for it to fully distribute throughout the tank, then test again.

will try that !!

dose Kalk?

I'm a newbie, 1 yr saltwater, but saw that is possibility. Will look further. Isn't that for aiptasia also?

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

will try that !!

I'm a newbie, 1 yr saltwater, but saw that is possibility. Will look further. Isn't that for aiptasia also?

Kalk can be made into a paste to treat aiptasia.

If you decide to use a different product for you alk needs there is a whole slew of things that work, look up some of Randy's articles and see which is the most practical for you.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

will try that !!

I'm a newbie, 1 yr saltwater, but saw that is possibility. Will look further. Isn't that for aiptasia also?

Kalk will do a few things for you. Raise your KH, Ph, and Ca. Its really a great and once you spend the money up front for a stirrer and dosing pump, cheap way to get those 3 things stable in your tank.

 

[clowns]

Kalk can be made into a paste to treat aiptasia.

If you decide to use a different product for you alk needs there is a whole slew of things that work, look up some of Randy's articles and see which is the most practical for you.

Thank you..

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Kalkwasser wont do anything for Aptasia if you are dosing it normally. You need to manually battle that stuff or get some livestock that eats it. Kalk Paste I believe is what people smear on it.

For Aptasia, ive had some recently and used "F Aptasia" and the stuff really sets fast. Bonus- its a pink color so it doest look weird once you have coraline algae in your tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Could my LARGE sebae be consuming that much. I also added dry live rock about 10 days ago, but can't get alk to go up much. Goal is 8.4

Bare rock acts as seed surfaces for precipitation of calcium carbonate until it gets clogged with organics, magnesium, bacteria, etc. that is likely where the demand is coming from.

The 8.4 is ok, but if it runs out, just use baking soda for this temporary situation. Kalk is fine, but more tricky to set up for temporary dosing.